An Inu Thing
by mousapellikun
Summary: Inuyasha doesn't care that Kagome's in her own time. Not even an eensy bit.


Title: An Inu Thing Inuyasha/Kagome  
Fandom: InuYasha  
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for some Inu swearing.  
Summary: Inuyasha doesn't care that Kagome's in her own time. Not even an eensy bit.  
A/N: That calendar picture with Rin dancing under fireworks is the cutest thing ever, and I am a big sap.

ooooooo

"You know," Miroku spoke up, "it's really quite funny the way Shippo and Inuyasha both sulk the same way when Kagome is gone."

Inuyasha's ear flickered as he raised his eyes up to the meddling monk.

"It's almost…" Sango looked up from polishing her boomerang with a thoughtful expression, "…cute."

Shippo and Inuyasha exchanged identical scowls.

"At least I can admit that I miss Kagome!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Keh!" Inuyasha snarled. "Why would I miss her? She's always whining about something or yelling at me! I'm glad for the peace and quiet!"

"Then why do you sneak out and sit by the well after you think we're all asleep?" Shippo smirked, tail lashing.

There was a moment of silence before Inuyasha leapt up with a roar that sent Shippo skittering across the hut.

"So much for the quiet," Miroku sighed. He shifted closer to Sango while she was distracted watching Inuyasha give the kitsune a good pounding.

"I'm telling Kagome!" Shippo wailed as Inuyasha held him up by the tail and bopped him like a punching balloon.

"Fine!" Inuyasha released Shippo's tail, letting him drop to the floor with a thud. "I'm outta here!"

Storming out of the hut, Inuyasha strode down the road that would take him out of the village, intending to leave humanity far behind, and hopefully to find something to kill. Although he met no one's eyes, his hanyou ears couldn't help but pick up some of the villagers' conversations as he passed.

"Did you hear about the fireworks? The lord two villages to the west is having them tonight to celebrate his son's wedding! Too bad we didn't hear of them earlier, my wife would love to see them, but the journey is far too long to make by dark…"

Kagome loves fireworks, Inuyasha thought before he could stop himself, then sped up into the forest as if he could run too fast for his brain to keep up. He relaxed as the trees whizzed by, glad to have fresh air in his lungs and the spongy grass under his bare feet.

Until the moment the trees ended and Inuyasha realized he had run right towards the Bone Eater's well. He cursed himself even as he stepped closer and glared down into its depths. Arms crossed angrily, Inuyasha couldn't keep from reminding himself that Kagome really did love fireworks. She'd be sorry she missed them.

"Serves Kagome right for running off to her time," he grumbled out loud. "Always running away to do those stupid test things…"

But he was already glancing at the sun to gauge how much time until dark, realizing that he could make the trip to the village in virtually no time at all, and working out how long Kagome had been gone to study versus how long it would be before she could be talked into a break. All the conclusions were favorable, and Inuyasha was vaulting over the edge of the well before he could stop himself.

On the other side, Inuyasha climbed nimbly out of the well and headed across the yard to Kagome's house. He paused at the sliding door before slipping inside. As he closed the door silently behind him, he heard the voices of Kagome's mother and little brother in the kitchen. Kagome's family was nice enough, but Inuyasha didn't want to get held up in a conversation, so he went up the stairs before anyone noticed his presence.

Upstairs, Inuyasha padded down the hallway to Kagome's room, noting with satisfaction that the door was already half-open. He nudged it just far enough to slip inside, scowling a little when his ears perked up as soon as he saw Kagome. She was hunched over her desk in concentration, feet swinging back and forth a little, and her quiet humming masked the small squeak of her bedsprings when Inuyasha sat carefully on it.

Crossing his legs underneath him, Inuyasha leaned back against the wall and ordered his ears back to their casual position. He had only been sitting for a minute or two when the Higarashi cat wandered in and made a beeline for his lap. Inuyasha's lips twitched in amusement as the cat rolled onto his back and stared up at him expectantly.

Inuyasha tugged the cat's ears, and the cat lolled his head back, eyes squinted in pleasure. Rubbing knuckles over the thick belly fur soon reduced the cat to a boneless puddle of bliss. Teasingly, Inuyasha poked the cat in the stomach with a claw and earned a low yowl.

"Buyo!" Kagome cooed, starting to turn around. " Do you want m—AAAAUGH!"

Inuyasha hissed a few choice curses as the startled cat sank claws into his forearm.

"Don't scare me like that!" Kagome screeched, brandishing a fist at the hanyou.

"It's not my fault your stupid human ears can't even tell you when somebody's sneaking into your room!" Inuyasha snapped, even as he was cringing, ears flat, sure that a big SIT! was coming. After a moment, it became apparent that no injury was about to occur, but Kagome was still staring at him.

"Well?" she demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"I've got something to show you," Inuyasha said, dislodging the clinging feline and standing up. "Come on."

"I can't go anywhere!" Kagome protested, waving a hand at her books. "I'm studying!"

"It won't take long," Inuyasha tried to make his voice coaxing rather than demanding, but it was hard while he was heady with the rush of being unSat. "You were about to take a break anyway!"

"I was not!" Kagome bristled, standing up to face Inuyasha down. "I can't! I'm days behind and the test is tomorrow! My head already feels like it's going to explode!"

"Then it's time for a break," Inuyasha announced imperiously. He glanced at Kagome's expression, which was starting to waver. "C'mon, Kagome, no one'll even know you're gone."

Her eyebrow twitched, and Inuyasha already knew he'd won. He tugged Kagome forward by the wrist without even waiting for her to acknowledge her capitulation verbally. She climbed onto his back without hesitation, and Inuyasha gave a small 'hmph' at his ears perking up again as soon as she touched him.

"Close your eyes," he ordered. He adjusted his grip and made sure Kagome was holding on snugly before hopping up on the windowsill. After a second's worth of pause, Inuyasha leaned out until only the tips of his claws on the sill were keeping him in place.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome squeaked.

"Didn't I tell you to close your eyes?" Inuyasha smirked as Kagome sniffed at being caught, then he hopped to the ground with a soft thump and took off for the well.

As Inuyasha vaulted the lip of the well and felt the eddies of magic swirl over him, Kagome hissed in recognition. Her warm breath stirring his hair made Inuyasha shiver, and he hoped that Kagome would be too distracted to notice. They landed with a soft thump on the other side, and Inuyasha climbed quickly out, Kagome's weight barely hindering him.

He crouched on the grass for a moment, flickering his ears to rid them of the tingle of magic while he glanced at the setting sun. Perfect, they'd have just enough time. Kagome had barely got the first syllable of her question out before he'd taken off again.

"Where are we going?" she demanded, and when Inuyasha didn't respond immediately, "I know you can hear me!"

"It's a surprise!" he snapped back. She started to say something else, but Inuyasha sped up, hoping to startle her into silence by skimming as close as possible to the trees before dodging them.

"Are you trying to get us killed!" Kagome shrieked, fingernails digging in a little painfully.

"I told you to close your eyes, wench!" Inuyasha was starting to wonder why he had even bothered when he felt Kagome's irritated growl buzz against his back, making his ears snap to attention, and a few other bits. Well, there is that, he thought, letting the smirk take over his mouth since there was no way Kagome could see it.

The timing was indeed perfect, if Inuyasha said so himself, and they broke out of the forest just as the last sliver of sun was slipping behind the horizon. Inuyasha slowed slightly as he headed into the fields that lay on the far outskirts of the goal village, since the waist-high grasses hid the footing. Kagome shifted against his back as the swaying grass tickled her bare legs. Inuyasha's battle of wills with his damn giveaway ears continued, and he was immensely thankful that even after nearly a year of contact with him Kagome still seemed completely oblivious to Inu body language.

"We've gone awfully far," Kagome piped up, interrupting Inuyasha's thoughts, and he blew his bangs out of his eyes in irritation. "Inuyasha, I really do need to study!"

"Can you go five minutes without complaining about something!" Inuyasha demanded. "If you don't stop bitching, I'll take you back right now, and then you'll never know what the surprise was!"

That shut her up good. Inuyasha was particularly pleased with that threat, since it drove Kagome absolutely crazy not to know something, and she should know by now that if an inuyoukai didn't want to talk about something, there was no dragging it out of him. And anyway, dark was falling fast and they were almost there.

Not like I don't have better things to do than haul your ass back and forth through time, he grumbled to himself. He liked the way it sounded in his head, even if it wasn't strictly true.

He had stopped on the crest of a hill, trying to figure out where they would shoot fireworks from and where the best place to see would be, when the first explosion went off overhead, filling the air with the scent of smoke.

"What was that!" Kagome pressed herself tightly to Inuyasha's back.

"What do you mean, what was…" Inuyasha twisted his neck to see that Kagome had her eyes squeezed tightly shut. "Oh, now you shut your eyes? Open them, baka."

"I don't appreciate…" Kagome was interrupted by the second firework, a red starburst that changed her expression from irate to awed in a split-second. "Ooh, Inuyasha, fireworks!"

"Keh." Inuyasha nodded, sitting down in the grass and letting go of her legs so she could slide off. "Surprise."

He wasn't very comfortable with the warm, tickling feeling that filled his chest when Kagome didn't move away, but merely edged around to his side and slid her arm through his. As each burst detonated overhead, tinting Kagome's pale skin with blues and reds, she would clutch at his upper arm and make a high noise of excitement that she probably didn't even realize he could hear.

"They're so beautiful," Kagome murmured, and Inuyasha felt fierce pride in his fireworks for being just as good as fireworks from the future, and then she made another one of those little noises that was driving Inuyasha crazy. Without thinking, he lowered his head to bury his nose in Kagome's hair and drew in a deep breath, dizzy with her scent.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, and Inuyasha stiffened as he suddenly came to his senses. "Did you just…snuffle me?"

"Inu thing," he grunted, straightening up quickly and clearing his throat, cursing himself for letting his instincts run away with him. Cheeks burning, he snuck a sidelong look at Kagome.

She didn't seemed disturbed. In fact, she gave him a slow, warm smile that made things go topsy-turvy for a second before snuggling back against his arm. They watched the rest of the fireworks in silence, except for Kagome's small exclamations, and she didn't even whine once about studying for those test things.

It couldn't last forever though, and they sat in the dark after the fireworks were over for a peaceful minute or two until Kagome sighed softly.

"I know, you have to go back," Inuyasha grumbled, sliding his arm out of Kagome's grip so he could stand.

"Keh," was her response, and Inuyasha thought that maybe they'd been spending too much time together even as he quickly stomped down the warmth Kagome's apparent reluctance to go was kindling in his chest.

She just doesn't like studying, he reminded himself harshly. Stop acting like an affection-starved pup! And no more snuffling!

He might have tugged Kagome against his back a bit roughly, and gone a bit faster back to the well, and deposited Kagome in her desk chair more abruptly than was strictly necessary. He hopped up on the windowsill to go before his stupid body could start interfering with his perfectly reasonable logic.

"Inuyasha?"

Swallowing a snarl, he glanced over his shoulder at Kagome.

"What, wench?" he asked, informing himself that he had not noticed at all the way Kagome was haloed by the warm light of her desk lamp.

"You don't have to go," Kagome gave him a smile. "You did just run all over the Feudal Era for me. You can stay for a bit if you want."

"I thought you had to study?" Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously, but his traitorous feet were already slipping back off the sill to the carpet. "You said you had to come back here to work."

"I do," Kagome was making the face that meant 'icky but necessary like fishing shards out of entrails'. "But it gets boring, it's nice to have someone to talk to. Please?"

She was batting her eyelashes. That bitch.

"I'll make us some Ramen…"

Dammit. The wench had him but good, and her grin said she knew it before he even opened his lips for the K in 'Keh'.

"You can just hang out here, I'll only be a few minutes!"

She was tripping happily down the stairs before Inuyasha even drew a breath to reply, and he shook his head and flopped down on her bed. He was contemplating the ceiling when Buyo wandered back in the open door and hopped up on Inuyasha's chest. Inuyasha sighed, but scratched the cat behind his ears, making him squeeze his eyes shut and knead his claws into Inuyasha's haori.

"You're so easy…" Inuyasha teased with a condescending smirk.

"Back!" Kagome was standing in the doorway, holding two steaming bowls with a bright smile. Inuyasha's stomach rumbled and his goddamned ears perked again, and Buyo gave him a look of deep feline understanding.

"Shut up, cat," Inuyasha grumbled.

oooooooooo


End file.
